Until a few months ago, my view toward getting anything done to one’s nails followed Kelly Preston’s line “if you can walk on a beach and you have a steady hand with nail polish, there’s no reason to ever pay for a pedicure” in the movie What a Girl Wants(which stars the effervescent, young Amanda Bynes). Although this quote speaks specifically about pedicures, I feel like it can explain manicures as well. Why get anything done to your nails that you can just do yourself? Buying nail polish and painting your own nails appears simple enough, why pay more just to have someone paint your nails for you?

I’ll tell you why.

A few years ago, I had read an article written by Lady Gaga on V Magazine’s website in which she enumerates her top six reasons for getting a manicure. These reasons are as follows:

1. Having A Perfect Manicure Instantly Makes You Feel Beautiful And Clean.

2. You’ll Be Ready For Sex Or To Put A Penis In Your Hand.

3. It’s A Way For You To Express Yourself (Careful How You Do That).

4. It Forces You To See The Importance Of Making Time For Yourself.

5. It Boosts Your Self-Esteem Everyday.

6. It Projects An Image Of Success, Which Is Good For Biz.”

Upon first reading this article as a whole, although I had only gotten a manicure once in my life when I was about 9 years old, I immediately understood Gaga’s sentiment. Seeing a well-manicured woman automatically intimidates the non-manicured among us because…well, look at her, she can afford to have her nails look that good AND she has the time to keep up the ritual of maintaining her talons. However, I didn’t truly realize until recently what a difference manicures make in maintaining a certain level of self-esteem.

Upon meeting my girlfriend, I was instantly intimidated; not just by the fact that she appeared so personable and friendly no matter what the hour or draining class, but also by her put together appearance, including her well-groomed fingernails. For her, manicures and pedicures hold importance in three distinct ways:

1. Both acts of beautification have the ability to make her feel put together and heighten her self-esteem.

2. When she lived at home, getting her nails done was an activity during which she could spend quality time with her mother.

3. Attaining a “regular” status at a nail salon gives her a feeling of belonging as well as a kind of instant connection with the establishment’s employees (akin to the belonging and connection I feel at the coffee shop I frequent).

Points two and three greatly interest me due to something a cousin of mine said while we were finishing up at a nail salon this past summer; she pointed out that common places to communally beautify and pamper oneself, such as bathhouses, have died out, yet nail salons continue to exist. After going to a nail salon, one doesn’t have to wonder why they have endured the test of time. While I had not believed in the necessity of nail salons for a long time, getting my nails done before my cousin’s wedding this summer changed this way of thinking, shifting to align instead with the views of Lady Gaga and my girlfriend enumerated above. As a result, I cannot wait to get my next manicure.